Suzuki Racing:

Injured Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Yukio Kagayama endured difficult conditions in the rain-affected first race in today’s World Superbike eighth round at Misano in Italy, and ended the 24-lapper in sixth place.

He opted for a harder rear spring in race two, but it didn’t work as well as he had expected and he finished in 11th position.

Fonsi Nieto ended with a 18th in race one, but improved to 12th in race two.

Ben Spies (Yamaha) won the rain-affected first 24-lapper with Shane Byrne (Ducati) second and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third.

Race two started in the dry and, apart from a few spots of rain, continued to remain a dry race: Jonathan Rea (Honda) had a race-long battle with Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), but held them both off to record his maiden World Superbike victory.

Yukio Kagayama:

“That was a difficult weekend and today was very tricky because of the changing conditions in the first race. I felt fairly comfortable for the first three-or-so laps, but the track dried so quickly so, after a few more laps, we decided to pull in and change bikes. But my second bike had a half dry/ half-wet setting and my feeling with it was not so good. I pushed as hard as I could, especially when I was fighting with Nori, but I had to settle for sixth place.
I made a mistake by choosing a harder rear spring in race two and wasn’t able to pick up the pace. Sorry to my team. Overall though, I found a good feeling with my bike this weekend, but I am disappointed not to get the results I expected.”

Fonsi Nieto:

“I started with full wets but the track dried very quickly and I didn’t have any confidence with the grip. We changed bikes and I think I progressed quite well, but I saw a blue flag and thought some really fast rider was going to pass, so I pulled over. But it was just the guys behind me and they all went past and I had lost three or so places! I wasn’t happy about this and by the time I recovered, it was too late. I made a good start in the second race and found a good pace. The bike’s balance felt good, but towards the end of the race I began to have problems with the front brake. I had a good battle with Max Biaggi and finished with a positive feeling.”